Civil Observatory on Drug Policy

Respect, flexibility, dignity: do not appeal the Catalan law on Cannabis

From the coordination of the La Rosa Verda we ask the Government of Spain to reconsider its decision to challenge the Law for Cannabis Consumers Associations in Catalunya before the Constitutional Court.

Firstly because the suspension of the law will throw hundreds of entities and thousands of consumers into the arms of the black market and legal insecurity. Because this law obeys the mandate of guardianship of the civil rights and protection of public health that Constitution and Statute impose to the public powers and not to a sectarian whim.

We ask that it be taken into account that this law enjoys an overwhelming social consensus in Catalonia: It was promoted by a Popular Legislative Initiative and obtained the support of 119 votes in favor by only 8 against. A consensus that managed an agreement from ALL the political groups with the exception of the Popular Party (PP).

We ask you to abandon the path of frontism to the peripheral initiatives that you consider a challenge when they only want to respond to the civic demands of our society. It is now clear that this attitude has contributed decisively to the very serious deterioration of the relations between the Institutions and a significant part of the population of Catalonia.

We allow ourselves to point out that the legalisation of cannabis is a process that affects many rights and standards sometimes confronted, no other government in the world has opted for the suspension of the norms of their states or communities. The democratic maturity and institutional loyalty of countries with a greater democratic tradition such as the United States has allowed their Federal Government, far from understanding state legalisation as a challenge, to have prioritised the well-being, maturity and autonomy of their communities and consequently opted for a flexible interpretation of its order.

In the very serious circumstances that our society is facing, we ask you not to draw upon the law, and that you also take a step towards the path of recognition and flexibility, since it is the only way to express citizen dignity, to welcome social yearnings and preserve the orderliness democratically.